Santa Barbara applies hotel parking standards to short-term rentals: one space per guestroom or sleeping unit, or the residential housing-type requirement, whichever is greater, with each bedroom counted as a sleeping unit. Parking cannot back out onto the street, so an onsite turnaround is required. A unit converted to an STR also loses eligibility for the Residential Parking Program.
Per the City of Santa Barbara's STR informational packet, parking requirements for permitted short-term rentals are the same as those for hotels: one space per guestroom/sleeping unit, or the residential housing-type requirement, whichever is greater. For STRs, each bedroom is considered a sleeping unit, so a three-bedroom home operated as an STR is generally treated as needing three hotel-style spaces unless the residential requirement is higher. City policy provides that parking for nonresidential uses, including STRs, cannot back out onto a street; therefore there must be adequate area onsite for a vehicle turnaround. This is frequently a limiting factor in older Santa Barbara neighborhoods where existing driveways back directly onto the street. The packet also notes that if a residential unit is converted to an STR, that unit will no longer be eligible to be part of the City's Residential Parking Program (the permit-parking districts that give residents on-street parking privileges), reflecting the unit's reclassification from residential to nonresidential. Exterior changes to parking, landscaping, or the site to satisfy these requirements will typically require design review approval by the Architectural Board of Review or Historic Landmarks Commission. These hotel-style parking standards are a City of Santa Barbara requirement and differ from California law and from Santa Barbara County's STR parking rules for unincorporated areas.
Operating a permitted STR without the required hotel-equivalent onsite parking and turnaround, or making exterior parking-site changes without design review approval, violates the City's Zoning Ordinance and conditions of approval and can be cited by the City. Inadequate onsite parking that pushes guest vehicles onto neighborhood streets is a common source of nuisance complaints, which can trigger investigation under the City Attorney's Short-Term Vacation Rental Enforcement Program, particularly for unpermitted STRs in the coastal zone where enforcement is complaint-driven.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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The Fence Guidelines set height and location but defer the exact material, color, width and style to design-review boards. Front-yard fences, walls and gates...
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